The Metropolitan Cathedral of Saints Vitus, Wenceslaus and Adalbert -Prague.
The Metropolitan Cathedral of Saints Vitus, Wenceslaus and Adalbert is a Roman Catholic metropolitan cathedral in Prague, seat of the Archbishop of Prague. Until 1997, the cathedral was dedicated only to Saint Vitus and is still commonly referred to only as St. Vitus Cathedral. This cathedral is a prominent example of Gothic architecture and is the largest and most important church in the country. It is located inside Prague Castle and contains the tombs of many Bohemian kings and Holy Roman Emperors. The cathedral is owned by the Czech government as part of the Prague Castle complex. The current cathedral is the third of a series of religious buildings on the site, all dedicated to Saint Vitus. The first church was an early Romanesque rotunda founded by Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia in 930. This patron saint was chosen because Wenceslaus had acquired a holy relic — the arm of Saint Vitus — from Emperor Henry I. In 1060, when the bishopric was founded Prague, Prince Spytihněv II undertook to build a more spacious church, as it became clear that the existing rotunda was too small to accommodate the worshippers. A much larger and more representative Romanesque basilica was built in its place. Although it has not yet been completely rebuilt, most experts agree that it was a three-aisled basilica with two choirs and a pair of towers connected…